I'm glad that I didn't know anything about Resurrecting the Champ before studying its new poster (apologies to Martha for not reading this post or this one last year) This way, I was able to look at the thing objectively and judge its worth as a marketing tool for the film. From what I could figure out, the movie is about boxing, it stars Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett and the latter's character has a son, making it as much a family drama as a sports drama. Oh, and according to the tagline, it is based on a true story, though a true story about a lie. So, my guess, again just from the poster, would be that Hartnett is the boxer, Jackson is his trainer, and the lie, maybe about how good the boxer is, is told to Hartnett's son. Sure, it doesn't sound that interesting, but the one-sheet isn't that interesting either.

So, how did I do? Well, aside from the boxing, and the obvious part about its stars, I was way off. According to its new trailer, the film is actually about a reporter (Hartnett), who is sure that a homeless man he has met (Samuel L. Jackson) is an old boxing legend. What even the trailer doesn't make clear, though, is that the man is not the famous person Hartnett's character thinks he is (but the man does have an interesting voice, thanks to Jackson). So what is up with the kid on the poster? Well, the official plot synopsis does mention the reporter has to reevaluate his relationship with his family, so I guess it represents that (the kid is Dakota Goya, who plays Hartnett's character's son). It is interesting that he appears so prominently on the poster, considering he's barely in the trailer. I've never been much for boxing movies (no, not even Raging Bull), so I'm not that interested in Resurrecting the Champ, even though I want to like another movie by Rod Lurie, because he did such a great job with The Contender. This poster doesn't do anything to change my mind, either, with its Hartnett-as-Peppermint Patty photo and its blazing, cloudy with a chance of Armageddon background. Sorry, Yari, try again.

Click on the poster for a larger size image. Check out the trailer after the jump.

Man, I'm totally falling down on the job, here -- there are FOUR magician movies due out in the next 18-24 months, not three. I'm so sorry to have misled you the other day. The fourth, entitled The Illusionist, actually already premiered at Sundance, but it somehow slipped through our collective net while we were there, and we failed to even register its existence. That all changes here and now, however: The Illusionist stars Edward Norton as a magician in Vienna in 1900, and is an adaptation of a short story by Steven Millhauser called Eisenheim the Illusionist. (Just so you know, I just watched some clips and read the review at Variety and, despite the fact that Rufus Sewell is sporting some truly frightening facial hair, I'm now so excited about this movie that I almost wish I still didn't know about it. Dammit. All this wait!) In the movie, Norton's character falls in love with a woman above his proverbial station -- played, boys, by one Jessica Biel -- and when she marries a prince (that's Sewell), instead of giving up he "uses his powers to win her back and undermine the stability of the royal house of Vienna." Mmm ... political intrigue.

The movie is in the news today because producer Bob Yari (you remember him) has elected to distribute the film himself (via Yari Film Group) rather than sell the rights to an outside company; he plans to have it in theaters this August.